Page 12 Decentralising cancer diagnostics using Lab-on-Chip technology – towards a lab-free model for clinical use Dr Melpomeni Kalofonou Imperial College London, Deparment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering The need for affordable and accessible diagnostic and monitoring technologies for cancer is now even greater, especially due to the recent repercussions of the pandemic and their indirect effect on patients with cancer.With the evolution of Lab-on-Chip technology for Point-of-Care testing, we are witnessing a convergence of engineering and sensing technologies for early screening, detection and monitoring of cancer, with advances in diagnostic testing, genotyping and DNA sequencing to have enabled a paradigm-shift in modern medicine and particularly in cancer research. From the moment of cancer diagnosis, to therapeutic monitoring and disease progression, the role of tumour-specific markers linked to different stages of tumour growth are of crucial importance. Liquid-biopsies can offer this through longitudinal monitoring of tumour specific molecular alterations for more targeted cancer profiling and prediction of therapeutic resistance. Molecular analysis platforms that are currently in use for target testing rely on laboratory-based equipment (qPCR/sequencing) and skilled operators and can be time-consuming and unaffordable for operation at a large scale, having not yet been clinically adopted for regular front-line testing. Lab-on-Chip technology in the form of sample-to-result systems has a great potential in Cancer Diagnostics, allowing the integration of thousands of chemical sensors, combined with electronics, instrumentation and microfluidics, capable of detecting molecular targets in minutes rather than hours. In this talk, I will present my research team’s latest developments in the design and testing of target-specific molecular methods, which are ‘microchip compatible’, for the detection of circulating-tumour DNA (ctDNA) mutations found in breast, colorectal and ovarian tumours, making the Lab-on-Chip approach as a viable option to assist future clinical evaluation and targeted treatment selection. Melpomeni Kalofonou is a Research Fellow and Cancer Technology Lead at the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology, within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London. She has conducted pioneering work in the application of microchip technology for detection of cancer specific biomarkers, through design and fabrication of microchip devices, integrating chemical sensors with molecular biology assays, leading to the development of Lab-on-Chip systems for detection and computation of genetic and epigenetic targets. One of her key research areas is on ‘liquid-biopsy’ based cancer diagnostics using pH-sensitive microchip technology, which will enable detection of cancer specific mutations in the tumour derived fraction of circulating-free DNA in blood, providing a sample-to-result system for patient stratification and monitoring tumour progression. Dr Kalofonou graduated with an MEng Degree (Hons) in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2007 from the University of Patras, Greece followed by an MSc in Biomedical Engineering, Department of Bioengineering in 2009 and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London in 2013. She continued as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology where she became the Lead for Cancer Engineering and Technologies in 2016, starting a new research theme on the development of Lab-on-Chip devices and microchip compatible methods for detection of cancer-specific genetic and epigenetic markers linked to early detection, progression and personalisation of cancer therapy. Her CRUK-funded research focuses on the application of Lab-on-Chip technology for the detection of ctDNA mutations linked to breast cancer relapse and the prediction of resistance to treatment, expanding into other cancer types, such as ovarian and colorectal cancer, with her work to be currently focusing on the development of fast and accurate microchip-compatible chemistries for the detection of tumour-derived variants linked to early detection and prognosis of the disease.
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